David S. Caudill
Professor of Law
Arthur M. Goldberg Family Chair
Biography
David Caudill joined the Villanova Law faculty in 2005 as professor of law and the first Arthur M. Goldberg Family Chair.
Caudill earned his JD from the University of Houston Law Center, and was editor-in-chief of the Law Review, and articles editor of the Houston Journal of International Law. He earned his PhD in philosophy from the Free University of Amsterdam and his BA in philosophy from Michigan State University. More recently, he has completed postdoctoral graduate work at the Science and Technology Studies Program at Virginia Tech, and at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. He received a SKAPP grant in 2007 to study local water pollution controversies, and he was the 2007/2008 Société de Chimie Industrielle (American Section) Fellow; he was in residence at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (Philadelphia) in the spring of 2008.
After graduating from the University of Houston Law Center, Caudill clerked for the Honorable John Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit before joining Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye in San Diego and then Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody in Austin. While in Austin, he also taught as adjunct professor at the University of Texas. He joined the Washington and Lee faculty in 1989. He has taught as visiting faculty at the University of Texas, Southern Illinois University, Cardozo School of Law and the University of Florida, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law Faculty.
Caudill's research and scholarly interests focus on law and science studies, law and literature, and sports and entertainment law.
Practice Experience
- Associate, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, Austin, Texas. Real Estate Section: commercial sale/lease transactions, financing, and land use planning; some sports law practice (players and team owners) (Apr. ’85- Aug. ‘89)
- Associate, Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye, San Diego, California. Real Estate Dept.: real estate securities, partnerships, commercial sale/lease transactions, and general corporate work for real estate clients (Sep. ’82- Mar. ‘85)
- Law Clerk, to Judge John R. Brown, U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (May ’81-May ‘82)
Recent Publications
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Book Chapter, Edward Elgar Publishing, January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2025
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Law and Literature Studies as a Basis for High Quality Ethics CLE programs, Article, Journal of Legal Education, January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2025
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CLIMATOLOGIST MANN’S DEFAMATION SUIT VICTORY: CAN IT HELP RESOLVE THE CRISIS OF EXPERTISE?, Article, University of Oregon, October 2024
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“I’VE NEVER BEEN THE LEAD ON A CASE BEFORE, BUT…I’M READY”: ETHICAL CONTOURS IN PERKINS-VALDEZ’S TAKE MY HAND, Other, Washington and Lee University School of Law, October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2024
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Judges should be discerning consensus, not evaluating expertise, Article, University of Cincinnati Law Review, March 2024
Recent Presentations
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'AALS Annual Meeting', Teaching Property using Real Estate Exercises, AALS, San Francisco. January 2025
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'Alumni Weekend, VU Widger School of Law', Legal Ethics in Crime Fiction , Widger School of Law, Villanova, PA. August 2024
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'Bi-annual Congress', Lacan and the Crisis of Expertise, International Academy of Law and Mental Health, Barcelona. July 2024
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'Annual meeting', Religious Aspects of the Crisi of Expertise, Society for the Sociological Study of Science, Amsterdam. July 2024
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'SEESHOP 2024', The Mann case: Did the court affirm scientific truth?, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales . June 2024

ڴھ:Rm 326, John F. Scarpa Hall
ʳDzԱ:610-519-7085
:610-519-5672
Courses and Seminars
- Advanced Sports Law: Contract Drafting
- Evidence
- Property
Education
- Graduate Student, Science & Technology Studies Program, Virginia Tech, 2001 (sabbatical)
- Candidate, Research Affiliate program, Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, 1994-95 (sabbatical)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, PhD (philosophy), March 1989
- University of Houston Law Center, JD, May 1981
- Michigan State University, BA (philosophy), April 1973